Street vendors look for solatium from govt.

Lockdown leaves them jobless; no schemes yet for their welfare

April 02, 2020 12:58 am | Updated 09:52 am IST - KOCHI

A street vendor

A street vendor

Three decades ago, when Abdul Rahim set off from Palakkad, his home town, Kochi was the city of hopes and opportunities.

He anchored his life on the shores of the port town and started earning his livelihood as a hawker at Marine Drive. He used to sell hosieries for children on the footpaths till recently.

However, matters took a turn for the worse after the announcement of the national lockdown. For the past two weeks, Rahim could not sell even a single piece as the roads have become deserted. Moreover, the authorities drew away all hawkers from the city streets during the first phase of the social distancing programme to control the spread of COVID-19.

There are around 3,000 wayside vendors in Kochi, and they have been identified and listed under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

“Earlier I used to earn around ₹500 a day by selling cloths. It has all come to an end after traders were evicted by the authorities,” said Rahim.

Selling fancy watches and sunglasses from his makeshift kiosk near children’s park, Saji Lukose could take home up to ₹1,000 a day.

Suddenly, it has stopped. No one comes out these days as the authorities have imposed curbs on travel. Lukose now survives on the free ration supplied by the government following the lockdown.

“I don’t know how long the crisis will last and when I will be able to get back to my shop,” he lamented.

Though Kochi has the maximum number of street vendors in the State, the authorities have not implemented any schemes for their welfare. It took several litigations and persuasion for the Kochi Corporation even to prepare the draft list of street vendors, said T.B. Mini, State president, Kerala State Cherukida Vyapara Sanghadana.

Street vendors include those selling soft drinks, food, fancy items, and footwear. The lockdown has come as a rude shock for all of them. With nowhere to go, these small-time traders are looking up to the State government for some solatium to survive. They should be offered an interim compensation of at least ₹1,000 each, said Ms. Mini.

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